Cyril V. Jackson

Cyril V. Jackson (born December 5, 1903 in Ossett , Great Britain , † February 1988 in Pietermaritzburg , South Africa ) was a South African astronomer and discoverer of 72 asteroids and 3 comets .

Life

Jackson was born in England but moved with his family to Johannesburg , South Africa when he was 7 years old . In 1922 he enrolled at the University of Witwatersrand . In his first year as a student, he began working at the Union Observatory , where he assisted in mapping the southern starry sky and searching for asteroids and comets.

Six years later he got a permanent job there. In April 1929 he discovered with (1116) Catriona the first of a total of 72 asteroids, which he gave for the most part typically African names. The asteroid (2193) Jackson is dedicated to him. His discoveries also included three comets, including two periodic ones ( 58P / Jackson-Neujmin and 47P / Ashbrook-Jackson ), which can still be observed today. From 1935 to 1936, Cyril V. Jackson served as President of the South African Astronomy Association .

With the exception of Comet 47P / Ashbrook-Jackson , which Jackson accidentally snapped in 1948 during an exposure test on a new camera, all of his discoveries date back to before World War II . After its outbreak, Jackson served in the Union Defense Force in North Africa and Italy. After the war he returned to Johannesburg, where he became director of Yale-Columbia Southern Station (formerly: Yale Observatory ).

As a result of the growing number of light sources and the associated deterioration in observation conditions, the telescope was finally dismantled and brought to Australia to the Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra . Jackson oversaw the instrument's move from 1951 to 1956, where he served from 1957 to 1963. When the Southern Observatory in Argentina reopened in 1963 , Cyril V. Jackson was appointed director. He stayed here until he retired in 1966.

In the 1950s, Jackson bought the Hilltop Farm in South Africa, where he had built a private observatory. This is where he retired after his professional life.

Cyril V. Jackson was married to Maria Aletta Lessing. He had two sons and a daughter. His son Paul described his father as a withdrawn loner who devoted his time entirely to astronomy . Cyril V. Jackson died in Pietermaritzburg in February 1988 .

Web links

• Publications by C. Jackson in the Astrophysics Data System
• Obituaries for C. Jackson in the Astrophysics Data System
• Biography on the websites of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa